End shield for paint roller

ABSTRACT

An end shield is releasably attached to an end of a paint roller by a boss on the shield engaged in an axial opening in a plug bonded in the end of the roller.

United States Patent Bennett 51 Aug. 22, 1972 [541 END SHIELD FOR PAINT ROLLER [72] Inventor: Melvin L. Bennett, 2739 S. Martinson, Wichita, Kans. 67217 22 Filed: Feb, 12, 1971 21 App1.N0.: 115,022

[52] US. Cl ..l5/230.ll, 15/248 A [51] Int. Cl. ..B44d 3/28 [58] Field of Search. 15/27, 230.11, 248 A; 33/41 C;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,213,477 10/1965 Shafer ..15/248 A 2,907,061 10/1959 Whalen ..15/166 X 2,763,022 9/ 1956 Glacken ..15/248 A 3,537,800 1 1/1970 Moceri ..401/193 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,023,705 v 1/1958 Germany ..15/248 A Primary ExaminerDaniel Blum AttorneyDuane C. Bowen [57] ABSTRACT An end shield is releasably attached to an end of a paint roller by a boss on the shield engaged in an axial opening in a plug bonded in the end of the roller.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATEMEDwszz I972 INVENTOR.

MELViN L. BENNETT ATTQR NEY I 1 END SHIELD FOR PAINT ROLLER BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention concerns an improvement in means for shielding the end of a paint roller painting a first sur face such as a wall, from smearing a second surface at right angles to the first surface, such as a wall or the edge of a window or door casing. The shield is quickly attachable or detachable.

Prior designs for shielding the ends of paint rollers are believed to have certain deficiencies and it is an object of my invention to avoid such deficiencies. There are several primary requirements for shielding a paint roller end. One requirement is that the shield be attachable to the roller assembly to travel therewith, as distinguished from separate hand-held shields used in the past. A second requirement is that the shield be quickly attached and detached, in order to have the shield quickly available whenever there is danger of smearing a surface adjacent to the surface desired to be painted and so that the shield can bereadily detached to avoid encumbering the roller when the shield is not needed. The shield is preferably detached to avoid getting paint on it when the roller is returned to the tray holding paint to roll more paint on the roller. Another primary requirement is effectiveness of operation. A shield is unsatisfactory that is only partly successful in shielding or that too often becomes smeared with paint so as to require cleaning or which is awkward to use. The householder, when he is doing the painting, does not want to waste time in using a shield because of one or more of the foregoing deficiencies. Waste of time of a professional painter can be ill afforded. A further primary requirement of a paint shield is economical manufacture. Paint rollers, support and handle assemblies, and associated items are mass-produced, modestmarkup commodities, and the market for a paint shield assembly would be drastically reduced if expensive manufacture resulted in a sales price'substantially out of keeping with the prices of paint rollers, handle assemblies, etc. It is an object of my invention to meet the above requirements.

My invention will be best understood, together with additional objectives and advantages thereof, from the following description, read with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a specific embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial side view, partly in section.

FIG. 3 is a view of the inside of the paint shield.

The construction of paint roller and handle assembly l2 preferablybasically follows constructions currently on the market. In one version of my paint roller assembly, handle assembly 12 needs no modification and roller 10 only needs modifying by having a plug 14 secured in one end and by having extra width to provide space for plug 14 at the end of the standard width roller support 16 of handle assembly 12. My preferred structure is to provide space for plug '14 by using a standard width roller and by manufacturing a handle assembly 12 with a roller support 16 of reduced width. It appears more economical to vary standard manufacture by providing a reduced width handle assembly for use of the present invention than to manufacture longer rollers which will also require manufacture of wider trays to accept the greater width of rollers.

Paint roller 10 can follow standard manufacture and is shown as having an inner cardboard tube 20 and an I outer foam tubular body 22. Plug 14 is preferably formed separately from tube 20 and is bonded in the end of tube 20 preferably by the manufacturer, although this could be done by the purchasing public. The adhesive used between the preferably plastic plug 14 and tube 20 is indicated at 24.

' Handle assembly 12 is preferably a product already on the market, as shown, so it will only be briefly described. Roller support 16 is of plastic and is molded with a series of bowed split portions 30 acting like bowed springs. Bowed portions 30 normally outwardly bulge to a larger size than the interior of paint roller 10, whereby the bowed portions 30 will hold roller 10 in place on roller support 16 when forced into tube 20. Roller support 16 is rotatable on the handle rod portion 32 which extends out the end of roller 10 and makes three bands to terminate in a hand grip 34. This type of handle assembly is adaptable to use with my invention, whereas a prior type of handle assembly with discs secured in each end of the paint roller would interfere with the use of plug 14.

Whereas it would be possible to provide a paint roller only used when a shield is used, it is preferable to only have one paint roller to be used withand without the shield, so as'to avoid the cost of two rollers, the waste of paint in using two rollers, the trouble of cleaning two rollers, etc. It is my intention, therefore, to provide a paint roller and shield assembly in which the paint roller has general utility in doing flat, unobstructed wall like surfaces and in which a paint shield can be quickly installed on the paint roller when a need for shielding occurs. Shielding need occurs when awindow or door casing is reached (particularly if the casing is notto be painted), when a ceiling and upright wall meet (particularly when the ceiling and wall are not both to be painted at the same time such as when they are to be painted different colors or one is wallpapered), when two upright walls meet (particularly when they are not to be painted alike), when a cabinet is reached, etc.

Plug 14 provides securing means in the end of paint roller 10 including an opening 40 which is aligned with the axis of rotation of roller 10. Paint shield 42 has a boss 44 generally fitting opening 40, rotatable within opening 40, and quickly installed in or removable from opening 40. The inner flat surface 46 of shield 42 should not scrape on the end of roller 10, to avoid picking up paint, so spacing means is providedbetween plug 14 and shield 42 by a raised annular area 50 around the base of boss 44. Note in the cross-sectional view that the edge 52 of shield 42 which abuts the wall has a lesser minimum distance from the edge to the axis of rotation of roller 10 than the radius of the paint roller, whereby the shield does not prevent limited flattening of roller 10 on the surface being painted.

Boss 44 has a first lesser diameter portion which generally fits axial opening 40, but is rotatable therewithin, and has a second greater diameter end portion 62 which abuts the inner end of axial opening 40 thereby retaining the boss within opening 40. The end of boss 44 is split at 64 permitting the end of the boss to flex to reduce the effective diameter of end portion 62 in order to enter axial opening 40 and to escape therefrom, under force. The outer and inner portions 66, 68 of enlarged diameter boss portion 62 have camming surfaces (radiused or tapered) to facilitate entry into opening 40 and escape therefrom by assisting in converting pushing or pulling force applied to the shield into compressive action on split portion 64, flexing the same to achieve a smaller diameter. Shield 40 is preferably molded in a single piece out of a plastic,

such as polyethylene, with resilient properties to permit flexure of the split boss end 64.

Plug 14, likewise preferably molded as a single piece out of plastic, such as polystyrene, is shown as having an annular end wall 70, a circumferential inwardly directed flange 72, and a central tubular shaped inwardly directed flange 74 about axial opening 40.

Shield 42, thus, is installed on the paint roller assembly whenever needed by forcing boss 44 into opening 40 and is snapped out when not needed or when more paint is being applied to the roller in the usual tray used with a painting roller. Roller is rotatable with respect to handle assembly 12 and relative to shield 42 which is limited in movement by abutting the wall surface being painted. Smearing of paint on shield 42 is minimized and the shield can be wiped off if the outer surface exposed to the structure being shielded gets some paint on it. It will be observed that the shield can be installed and removed with minimum time and effort. Despite its simple, economical construction, the shield affords the maximum practical shielding function. Costs are minimized, i.e., plug 14 and shield 42 can be each a unitary plastic molding, a standard handle assembly 12 and roller 10 can be used, except either roller support 16 or roller 10 needs to be modified as to length to provide room for installation of plug 14 by a simple bonding action.

The manner in which the objectives of my invention have been met and its various advantages will be understood from the foregoing description. I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction shown but instead wish to cover those modifications thereof which will occur to those skilled in the art upon learning of my invention and which are properly within the scope of my invention.

1 claim: 7

1. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprismg:

a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller,

b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller, and

. said plug being molded of plastic and having an annular outer wall, having a circumferential tubular flange extending inwardly of said roller forming the surface bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller and having an axial tubular flange extending inwardly of said roller around saidaxial opening.

2. The subjectmatter of claim 1 in which said shield is molded of resilient plastic and said boss has a first portion of reduced diameter substantially fitting said axial opening and rotatable therewithin and said boss has a second portion of enlarged diameter normally larger than said axial openingand abutting the inner end of said axial tubular flange to secure said shield in said plug, said boss having a split endand said enlarged diameter portion of said boss having camming surfaces at each end whereby said bosscan be forced into said axial opening and can be forced out of said axial opening by flexure of said split end resulting from camming of said camming surfaces on the edges of said axial opening.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 in which the side of said paint shield adjacent to said roller is generally fiat and there is an annular raised portion around said boss of lesser diameter than said roller abutting on said plug around said axial opening to avoid scraping of said second end of said roller covered with paint on said side of said shield adjacent to said roller.

4. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end'of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprisa. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller,

b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller d. spacing means in the area of said boss and axial opening between said plug and said shield to avoid scraping of said second'end of said roller covered with paint on said side of said shield adjacent to said roller, and said spacing means being an annular raised portion of said shield around said boss of lesser diameter than said roller.

5. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprising:

a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller,

b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller, and

(1. said shield being molded of resilient plastic and said boss having a first portion of reduced diameter substantially fitting said axial opening and rotatable therewithin and said boss having a second portion of enlarged diameter normally larger than said axial opening and abutting the inner edge of said axial opening to secure said shield in said plug, said boss having a split end and 6. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprisa. said shield having on its side ad acent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller,

b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged, and

c. said shield being molded of resilient plastic and whereby said boss can be forced into said axial opening and can be forced out of said axial opening by flexure of the split end resulting from camming of said camming surfaces on the edges of said axial opening.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORREUNN Patent No. 3 5 034 Dated AllgllSt 22 1972 Inven o Melvin L. Bennett It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the grant (only) columns 1 and 2 should read as shown on the attached sheet.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of March 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer USCOMM DC 60376-P69 u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1969 0366334,

FORM PO-105O (10-69) 1 END SHIELD FOR lPAlNT ROLLER BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE lNVENTlON My invention concerns an improvement in means for shielding the end of a paint roller painting a first surface such as a wall, from smearing a second surface at right angles to the first surface, such as a wall or the edge of a window or door casing. The shield is quickly attachable or detachable.

Prior designs for shielding the ends of paint rollers are believed to have certain deficiencies and it is an object of my invention to avoid such deficiencies. There are several primary requirements for shielding a paint roller end. One requirement is that the shield beattachable to the roller assembly to travel therewith, as distinguished from separate hand-held shields used in the past. A second requirement is that the shield be quickly attached and detached, in order to have the shield quickly available whenever there is danger of smearing a surface adjacent to the surface desired to be painted and so that the shield can be readily detached to avoid encumbering the roller when the shield is not needed. The shield is preferably detached to avoid getting paint on it when the roller is returned to the tray holding paint to roll more paint on the roller. Another primary requirement is effectiveness of operation. A shield is unsatisfactory that is only partly successful in shielding or that too often becomes smeared with paint so as to require cleaning or which is awkward to use. The householder, when he is doing the painting, does not want to waste time in using a shield because of one or more of the foregoing deficiencies. Waste of time of a professional painter can be ill afforded. A further primary requirement of a paint shield is economical manufacture. Paint rollers, support and handle assemblies, and associated items are mass-produced, modestmarkup commodities, and the market for a paint shield assembly would be drastically reduced if expensive manufacture resulted in a sales price substantially out of keeping with the prices of paint rollers, handle assemblies, etc. It is an object of my invention to meet the above requirements.

My invention will be best understood, together with additional objectives and advantages thereof, from the following description, read with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a specific embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial side view, partly in section.

FlG. 3 is a view of the inside of the paint shield.

The construction of paint roller and handle assembly 12 preferably basically follows constructions currently on the market. In one version of my paint roller assembly, handle assembly 12 needs no modification and roller 10 only needs modifying by having a plug 14 secured in one end and by having extra width to provide space for plug 14 at the end of the standard width roller support 16 of handle assembly l2. My preferred structure is to provide space for plug M by using a standard width roller and by manufacturing a handle assembly 12 with a roller support 16 of reduced width. It appears more economical to vary standard manufacture by providing a reduced width handle assembly for use of the present invention than to manufacture longer rollers which will also require manufac- I ture of wider trays to accept the greater width of rolformed separately from tube 20 and is bonded in the end of tube 20 preferably by the manufacturer, although this could be done by the purchasing public. The adhesive used between the preferably plastic plug 14 and tube 20 is indicated at 24.

Handle assembly 12 is preferably a product already on the market, as shown, so it will only be briefly described. Roller support 16 is of plastic and is molded with a series of bowed split portions 30 acting like bowed springs. Bowed portions 30 normally outwardly bulge to a larger size than the interior of paint roller 10, whereby the bowed portions 30 will hold roller 10 in place on roller support 16 when forced into tube 20. Roller support 16 is rotatable on the handle rod portion 32 which extends out the end of roller 10 and makes three bands to terminate in a hand grip 34. This type of handle assembly is adaptable to use with my invention, whereas a prior type of handle assembly with discs secured in each end of the paint roller would interfere with the use of plug 14. I

Whereas it would be possible to provide a paint roller only used when a shield is used, it is preferable to only have one paint roller to be used with and without the shield, so as to avoid the cost of two rollers, the waste of paint in using two rollers, thetrouble of cleaning two rollers, etc. It is my intention, therefore, to provide a paint roller and shield assembly in which the paint roller has general utility in doing fiat, unobstructed wall like surfaces and inwhich a paint shield can be quickly installed on the paint roller when a need for shielding occurs. Shielding need occurs when a window or door casing is reached (particularly if the casing is not to be painted), when a ceiling and upright wall meet (particularly when the ceiling and wall are not both to be painted at the same time such as when they are to be painted different colors or one is wallpapered), when two upright walls meet (particularly when they are not to be painted alike), when a cabinet is reached, etc.

Plug 14 provides securing means in the end of paint roller 10 including an opening 40 which is aligned with the axis of rotation of roller 10. Paint shield 42 has a boss 44 generally fitting opening 40, rotatable within opening 40, and quickly installed in .or removable from opening 40. The inner fiat surface 46 of shield 42 should not scrape on the end of roller 10, to avoid picking up paint, so spacing means is provided between plug 14 and shield 42 by a raised annular area 50 around the base of boss 44. Note in the cross-sectional view that the edge 52 of shield 42 which abuts the wall has a lesser minimum distance from the edge to the axis of rotation of roller 10 than the radius of the paint roller, whereby the shield does not prevent limited fiattening of roller 16 on the surface being painted.

Boss 44 has a first lesser diameter portion 60 which generally fits axial opening 49, but is rotatable therewithin, and has a second greater diameter end portion 62 which abuts the inner end of axial opening 40 thereby retaining the boss widiin opening 410. The

. end of boss M is split at 6 permitting the end of the boss to flex to reduce the effective diameter of end por 

1. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprising: a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller, b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller, and d. said plug being molded of plastic and having an annular outer wall, having a circumferential tubular flange extending inwardly of said roller forming the surface bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller and having an axial tubular flange extending inwardly of said roller around said axial opening.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which said shield is molded of resilient plastic and said boss has a first portion of reduced diameter substantially fitting said axial opening and rotatable therewithin and said boss has a second portion of enlarged diameter normally larger than said axial opening and abutting the inner end of said axial tubular flange to secure said shield in said plug, said boss having a split end and said enlarged diameter portion of said boss having camming surfaces at each end whereby said boss can be forced into said axial opening and can be forced out of said axial opening by flexure of said split end resulting from camming of said camming surfaces on the edges of said axial opening.
 3. The subject matter of claim 2 in which the side of said paint shield adjacent to said roller is generally flat and there is an annular raised portion around said boss of lesser diameter than said roller abutting on said plug around said axial opening to avoid scraping of said second end of said roller covered with paint on said side of said shield adjacent to said roller.
 4. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprising: a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller, b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller d. spacing means in the area of said boss and axial opening between said plug and said shield to avoid scraping of said second end of said roller covered with paint on said side of said shield adjacent to said roller, and said spacing means being an annular raised portion of said shield around said boss of lesser diameter than said roller.
 5. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller is rolling to paint said second surface, comprising: a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller, b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged c. said roller having a tubular inner surface and said securing means being a plug fitting within said second end of said roller and bonded to said tubular inner surface of said roller, and d. said shield being molded of resilient plastic and said boss having a first portion of reduced diameter substantially fitting said axial opening and rotatable therewithin and said boss having a second portion of enlarged diameter normally larger than said axial opening and abutting the inner edge of said axial opening to secure said shield in said plug, said boss having a split end and said enlarged diameter portion of said boss having camming surfaces at each end whereby said boss can be forced into said axial opening and can be forced out of said axial opening by flexure of the split end resulting from camming of said camming surfaces on the edges of said axial opening.
 6. The improvement in the combination of a paint roller, means rotatably supporting said roller including handle means extending from a first end of said roller, and a paint shield at the second end of said roller extending laterally of the axis of rotation of said roller and lapping at least the major portion of said second end of said roller thereby to abut and shield from paint from said roller a first surface such as a first wall or the edge of a window or door casing extending lateral to a second surface such as a second wall on which said roller iS rolling to paint said second surface, comprising: a. said shield having on its side adjacent to said roller a boss aligned with said axis of rotation of said roller and extending into said second end of said roller, b. securing means at said second end of said roller forming an axial opening in which said boss is releasably and rotatably engaged, and c. said shield being molded of resilient plastic and said boss having a first portion of reduced diameter substantially fitting said axial opening and rotatable therewithin and said boss having a second portion of enlarged diameter normally larger than said axial opening and abutting the inner edge of said axial opening to secure said shield in said securing means, said boss having a split end and said enlarged diameter portion of said boss having camming surfaces at each end whereby said boss can be forced into said axial opening and can be forced out of said axial opening by flexure of the split end resulting from camming of said camming surfaces on the edges of said axial opening. 